This study investigates teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, professional beliefs, work-related motivation, and self-regulation as aspects of their professional competence. Specifically, it ...examines how these aspects impact instruction and, in turn, student outcomes. In a nationally representative sample of 194 German secondary school mathematics classes, multiple measures were used to assess teacher competence, instructional quality, and students' achievement and motivation. The effect of teachers' professional competence on student outcomes was estimated in a 1-year repeated-measures design. Two-level structural equation models revealed positive effects of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, enthusiasm for teaching, and self-regulatory skills on instructional quality, which in turn affected student outcomes. In contrast, teachers' general academic ability did not affect their instruction. The multidimensional model of teachers' professional competence introduced in this article seems suited to stimulate further research on the personal indicators of teacher quality.
Purpose
While supported employment (SE) programs for people with mental illness have demonstrated their superiority in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses, little is known about the ...effectiveness of non-trial routine programs. The primary objective of this study was to estimate a pooled competitive employment rate of non-trial SE programs by means of a meta-analysis. A secondary objective was to compare this result to competitive employment rates of SE programs in RCTs, prevocational training programs in RCTs and in routine implementation.
Methods
A systematic review and a random-effects meta-analysis of proportions were conducted. Quality assessment was provided. Moderator analyses by subgroup comparisons were conducted.
Results
Results from 28 samples were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled competitive employment rate for SE routine programs was 0.43 (95% CI 0.37–0.50). The pooled competitive employment rates for comparison conditions were: SE programs in RCTs: 0.50 (95% CI 0.43–0.56); prevocational programs in RCTs: 0.22 (95% CI 0.16–0.28); prevocational programs in routine programs: 0.17 (95% CI 0.11–0.23). SE routine studies conducted prior to 2008 showed a significantly higher competitive employment rate.
Conclusion
SE routine programs lose only little effectiveness compared to SE programs from RCTs but are much more successful in reintegrating participants into the competitive labor market than prevocational programs. Labor market conditions have to be taken into account when evaluating SE programs.
Empirical research considers teacher collaboration to be an important predictor of outcome variables at the student, teacher, and school level. Principals are responsible for shaping teachers’ work ...environments, and in doing so, they can strengthen and support teacher collaboration. Drawing on social interdependence theory, we hypothesized that teachers’ collective efficacy has a mediating effect on the relationship between principal leadership and teacher collaboration. We collected data from 630 teachers in 29 primary and secondary schools in Germany and found, based on structural equation modeling, that principal leadership had a significant indirect effect on teacher collaboration, mediated by teachers’ collective efficacy. We discuss the implications of these results for supporting school improvement.
Background Most individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) strongly prefer independent living over living in an institution. Independent Supported Housing (ISH) provides housing rehabilitation for ...persons with SMI in their accommodations. However, most individuals who need housing rehabilitation live in institutional housing settings (housing rehabilitation as usual: HAU). We investigated which housing rehabilitation setting is effective on which variable in the long term to support service users to form an informed preference for either housing rehabilitation setting. Methods We conducted a two-year longitudinal observational non-inferiority study to test the effectiveness of ISH in improving participants' social inclusion, quality of life, emotional social support, capabilities, symptom severity, functioning, service utilisation and costs. Participants were assessed at baseline and after six, twelve, and 24 months. Mixed effects models were computed to test between-group and within-group effects. Results The study included 83 participants in ISH (n = 31) and HAU (n = 52) housing rehabilitation settings with a mean age of 36.2 years. Most participants were male (64%) and had a primary psychotic or schizophrenic (35%) or an affective diagnosis (24%). During the study, ISH participants significantly improved their quality of life (beta = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.82), symptoms (beta = -0.32; 95% CI: -0.60 to -0.03), and capabilities (beta = 4.46; 95% CI: 0.14 to 8.77) and decreased psychiatric hospitalisations (p = 0.04). HAU participants improved their quality of life (beta = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.69). Housing and rehabilitation support costs were almost half with ISH than with HAU. Conclusion ISH has been shown to be much less expensive than HAU and was associated with several improvements like reduced psychiatric hospitalisations and improved quality of life. Therefore, our findings strongly argue for a preference-driven provision of housing rehabilitation services and to end the institutionalisation of persons with SMI. Trial registration The study was registered on December 04, 2018, at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03815604). Keywords: Psychiatric rehabilitation, Independent Supported Housing, Institutional housing rehabilitation, Social inclusion, Longitudinal study
The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic and the lockdown response are assumed to have increased mental health problems in general populations compared to pre-pandemic times. The aim of this paper is to review ...studies on the course of mental health problems during and after the first lockdown phase.
We conducted a rapid review of multi-wave studies in general populations with time points during and after the first lockdown phase. Repeated cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that utilised validated instruments were included. The main outcome was whether indicators of mental health problems have changed during and after the first lockdown phase. The study was registered with PROSPERO No. CRD42020218640.
Twenty-three studies with 56 indicators were included in the qualitative review. Studies that reported data from pre-pandemic assessments through lockdown indicated an increase in mental health problems. During lockdown, no uniform trend could be identified. After lockdown, mental health problems decreased slightly.
As mental health care utilisation indicators and data on suicides do not suggest an increase in demand during the first lockdown phase, we regard the increase in mental health problems as general distress that is to be expected during a global health crisis. Several methodological, pandemic-related, response-related and health policy-related factors need to be considered when trying to gain a broader perspective on the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and the first phase of lockdown on general populations' mental health.
This study examined teachers’ uptake of formal and informal learning opportunities across the career cycle. Analyses were based on data from 1939 German secondary teachers in 198 schools. Results ...showed that formal learning opportunities (in-service training) were used most frequently by mid-career teachers, whereas informal learning opportunities showed distinct patterns across the teaching career. Specifically, use of professional literature increased with teacher age, but teacher collaboration decreased. Teachers’ work engagement and professional responsibilities were hypothesised to predict changes over the career. However, although these variables partly predicted uptake of learning opportunities, they did not fully explain the age-related differences observed.
►Teachers’ uptake of professional development activities differs across the career. ►The use of in-service courses shows a curvilinear pattern peaking at mid career. ►Teacher’s use of professional literature increased with teacher age, but teacher collaboration decreased. ►Teachers’ work engagement and professional responsibilities did not fully explain the age-related differences observed.
In restraint use in the somatic acute-care hospital setting, routine and institutional culture seem to play an important role. This implies that similar patient situations would be managed with ...restraints in one hospital, while in another hospital the situation would be managed without restraints. This practice variation appears to be ethically and legally questionable. The influence of organisation-specific factors such as the availability of guidelines is discussed. However, the relevance of such factors at the hospital level has been rarely investigated to date. Therefore, the aims of this study were a) to determine how much variance in restraint use can be explained on the hospital level (hospital general effect) and b) to examine the impact of organisational factors on restraint use (specific contextual effects).
A secondary data analysis of cross-sectional multicentre data was performed. Data were collected during three quality measurements (2016-2018) in acute-care hospitals in Switzerland and Austria. Hospitalised patients from different medical specialties aged 18+ with informed consent were included. Descriptive analysis and multilevel logistic regression analysis were performed.
The study included 29,477 patients from a total of 140 hospitals. The 30-day prevalence rate of patients with at least one restraint was 8.7% (n = 2577). The availability of guidelines regarding restraint use and refresher courses for nursing staff were associated with less restraint use (odds ratios = 0.60 and 0.75). By adding the hospital as a random effect, the explained variance of the model increased from 24 to 55%.
The use of restraints varies widely between hospitals, even considering patient characteristics. The identification of situations in which restraints were used out of routine or institutional culture appears to be an important approach in restraint reduction. Investments in appropriate structures and employee knowledge can facilitate providing restraint-free care as much as possible.
Within a few years, the global community has failed twice in responding to large viral infection outbreaks: the Ebola epidemic in 2014 and the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic in 2020. There is, however, no ...systematic approach or research available that analyses the repeated failures with regard to an adequate response to an epidemic.
For a better understanding of failing societal responses, we have analysed the available research literature on societal responses to epidemics and we propose a framework called the ‘Epidemic Failure Cycle’ (EFC).
The EFC consists of four phases: Negligence, Arrogance/Denial, Panic and Analysis/Self-criticism. These phases fit largely with the current World Health Organization pandemic influenza phases: Interpandemic, Alert, Pandemic, Transition. By utilizing the Ebola epidemic and the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic as case studies, we show striking similarities in the response to these outbreaks during both crises. Finally, we suggest three major areas to be of utmost importance for triggering and maintaining the EFC. In terms of ecology, zoonoses, supposed to be the main biological origin for virus epidemics, have been largely neglected by politicians, the media and the scientific community. Socioeconomic and cultural conditions such as harsh living and working conditions as well as conspiracy theories hinder effective preventive and counter measures against epidemics. Lastly, in terms of epistemology, the reliance on knowledge about previous outbreaks has led to slow and inadequate decisions.
We conclude that any current society has to be aware of the risks of repeating responses to epidemics that will fail. Being aware of the societal mechanisms that trigger inadequate responses may help to get to more appropriate decisions in the face of an epidemic.
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